Stephen M. Cutler to become General Counsel of JPMorgan Chase

New York, December 12, 2006  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) announced today that Stephen M. Cutler will be appointed Executive Vice President, General Counsel and head of the company's Legal and Compliance activities worldwide, effective February 2007. He will report to CEO Jamie Dimon, and will also join the firm's Operating Committee. Mr. Cutler succeeds Joan Guggenheimer, who died earlier this year.

Mr. Cutler, 45, joins JPMorgan Chase from the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, D.C., where he is a partner and co-chair of the firm's Securities Department. Before joining WilmerHale in 2005, he was Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement during some of the most active years in the agency's history. While at the SEC, he oversaw 1,100 employees and led the agency's investigations of numerous financial reporting matters, as well as its actions involving exchange specialists, research analysts and mutual funds.

Jamie Dimon said, "I am very pleased that Steve Cutler will be joining JPMorgan Chase in this critically important role. He will be an excellent General Counsel and a key member of our senior management team." Mr. Dimon added that "Steve is a strong leader, noted for his integrity, distinguished service in the public and private sectors, and outstanding reputation in the legal and regulatory communities."

Mr. Cutler added, "I am delighted to be joining JPMorgan Chase, a leader in global finance and a truly dynamic organization. This is an exciting opportunity for me to join a wonderful group of people, and I'm looking forward to working closely with Jamie and his team."

Prior to joining the SEC in 1999, Mr. Cutler was a partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C., where he worked for 11 years. Before his time at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, he served as a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles and a law clerk to Judge Dorothy Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Cutler received his B.A. summa cum laude from Yale University, where he was also a member of phi beta kappa, and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.3 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its JPMorgan and Chase brands. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.